A man who joined a Bengaluru-based AI startup as an intern to restart his career after a gap has alleged that he was overworked, sidelined and left burnt out within months of joining. In a Reddit post titled “My ‘first start’ in an Indian startup turned into a nightmare,” the anonymous user described how the role he hoped would be his stepping stone back into the workforce instead became an exhausting and demoralising experience.
In the post, the man, without naming the company, said that the internship began normally, with a small team of one manager, two full-time associates and four interns handling data analysis tasks. But within the first two weeks, he claimed he began taking on a large share of the workload after his associate noticed that he was learning about the processes faster than others.
“By the first month, I was completing 2–3 analyses per day, while he took a week to report my work to the manager as if it was his,” the Redditor wrote.
The OP claimed that he continued working long hours in an effort to prove himself, but the pace soon began affecting his health. “My eyes were already weak (I had LASIK earlier), and constant 10-hour laptop sessions made it worse. I was vomiting, drained, and couldn’t focus anymore,” he wrote.
When he raised the issue internally, he said that there was no relief. Instead, he said the same associate instructed others “to make him stay longer” and pushed more work his way. Later, he said two associates teamed up against him and told him management was dissatisfied with his performance, despite earlier client appreciation. “I was shocked,” he said.
In the final month of the internship, the Redditor alleged that his projects were taken away, rebranded with minor edits, and sent to the client without credit. “It was my work. Literally the same analysis, with like 5% of cosmetic changes,” the user wrote.
“When I confronted them, they denied it completely. That was it for me. My health was down, my motivation was gone, and I felt like I was just being used,” he added.
Feeling exploited and unrecognised, he left the internship after four months with no job offer. “After four months, I left the internship. No job offer, no recognition, just burnout and disappointment. And now… I’m back to square one. Still searching for another opportunity. I thought restarting my career would be hard — but I didn’t expect it to break me like this,” he said.
Social media reactions
The post has sparked a discussion online around workload and recognition in startups, especially for interns.
“Startups in India are more toxic than normal companies. If possible, get a lower salary job but never join a startup. They don’t know how to treat employees. Every startup founder think they are Steve Jobs or Elon Musk without having their smartness,” one user wrote.
“Sadly, many startups run like that, with no proper management or ethics. But trust me, this experience taught you more than you realize, about people, work limits, and your own strength. Take a short break, focus on your health, and start fresh. The right place will value your skills and honesty. This was just one bad chapter, not your whole story,” commented another.
“One of my mentors used to tell me “Reward for good work is more work”. So do as much work as the other person is able to take in or appreciate. Anything beyond that, is basically offering yourself to get exploited. No one who is above you, will ever want you to surpass them. That is the reason why people switch because promotions within the organisation is harder than getting a promotion by switching,” said a third user.